By Maia Zasler
April
Have you ever been utterly desperate for a new show to watch? Have you ever yearned for a series that’s just long enough to hold your attention while you let the episodes run in the background of your daily life? After completing “Gossip Girl,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Big Mouth,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Human Resources,” “Community,” “Inside Job,” “Young Sheldon,” “The Office,” “Outlander,” “The Great,” “The Great British Baking Show,” “Bridgerton,” etc. (yes, I watch a lot of TV), I thought I exhausted my arsenal of quality shows. It’s only then that, by a stroke of pure destiny, I discovered the gem that is “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” A whirlwind of whimsical musical comedy and delectable love triangles (quadrangles?), with a splash of poignant moments, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is a god amongst television productions, an exceptional set of four seasons that supersedes the comparatively mundane Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu material.
Rachel Bloom stars as Rebecca Bunch, a quirky, high-strung New York lawyer who quits her job at a fancy firm in favor of moving out to West Covina, California. She makes this impulsive decision immediately after a brief run-in with her summer camp boyfriend from a decade prior, Josh Chan (but Josh just happens to live there!). Bunch is cunning and smart; the first season follows her and her bestie/enabler, Paula, as they hatch plots to wiggle into Josh’s life. Bunch will stop at nothing… unless her great love is actually with another guy, Greg, a bartender at the local sports joint with a smidge of an alcohol consumption problem. Or maybe it's with Nathaniel, the new, jaded boss at her firm in West Covina. To be determined.
In each progressive episode, Bunch becomes a bit more deranged. At first, her “unraveling” is endearing; she’s just a tad overzealous, love’s #1 fan…but the audience learns that this passion, the immediateness that washes over her at seemingly random times, is part of a more pressing, pertinent mental health problem.
Her struggles and missteps— occasionally crossing the line into illegal territory—are depicted realistically and respectfully. In any instance of intense love where one craves the attention and validation of another and is willing to drop everything for that person, there are often underlying issues e.g., anxiety and/or depression. The audience slowly uncovers more about Bunch’s past and how her behavior toward Josh Chan was not a one-off; she was hurt and traumatized by a previous relationship with a much older male professor during her time at undergrad. Bunch needs affirmation, someone, anyone, to tell her that she's “okay.” She constantly pushes the limits to what the audience considers “crazy.” It’s what allows the show to masterfully balance cheekiness and an amusing self-awareness with a seriousness that accompanies a storyline of a woman who’s “falling off the side of a mountain and sort of grabbing at roots and trees and brambles,” plummeting (Bloom 2017). But Bunch is able to get the help she needs. She even gets “a diagnosis”! Throughout its final season, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” contributes to the de-stigmatization dialogue that surrounds addressing mental health problems because “anti-depressants are so not a big deal.”
Bunch views her life as a musical. She makes sense of her thoughts, her feelings, and her relationships with others through melodies and performance. Her internal monologue is always on display, and so when she grows, the audience grows with her. While watching, I found myself rejoicing in her triumphs and mourning her losses. I cheered her on when she supported her friends and when she gathered the courage to follow her true calling. Perhaps most frequently, I laughed and cringed at the handful of exaggerated characters and clever, wacky songs.
I can’t help but feel a sentimental compulsion to the show; maybe because I see myself in Bloom’s character, or maybe because I think that we can all relate to Rebecca Bunch; Bunch reacts to life’s trials and tribulations in an uninhibited way, reactions stripped of regulated temperament. Her intensity, palpable through a television screen, is a product of feeling intensely.
We all face similar fears, anticipating rejection or feeling the sting of criticism, lacking validation. We stifle ourselves, denying ourselves the opportunity for change before we’re even told “no.” We place our happiness at some undefined point in the future, almost always with asterisks; if we’re able to complete this deadline, get a date with this person, and fit into those pants, then “we’ll never have problems again.” Bunch and her path towards getting better is a testament to a journey we all, in some way or another, are on.
On a different note, any musical or show-tune lover will be thrilled with the variety of themes and genres incorporated into “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”’s incredible score. Some of my favorites included “Let’s Generalize About Men” (a colorful, catchy 80s inspired bop), “Remember That We Suffered” (a dizzying, addicting song set at a quintessential New York bar mitzvah celebration), “Santa Ana Winds pt. 1-5” (I can’t describe… you just have to watch), and “The Sexy Getting Ready Song” (a potential feminist commentary?).
Despite receiving two Emmys (and my glowing endorsement), “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” maintained relatively low ratings throughout its run between 2015 and 2019. But it seems to be having a revival now on Netflix. And a revival is what it deserves, if not to have been lauded during its initial release. To watch “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is to watch a labor of love. Bloom, as a lead writer and creator of the show—alongside the late Adam Schlesinger—puts so much of herself into each episode’s immersive dialogue, catchy theme songs, and bonus tunes. Giving audiences Rebecca Bunch simultaneously gives them something for which to strive: authenticity and, as corny as it may sound, self-love. Connecting with ourselves and that which makes us truly happy, rejecting (as difficult as it may be) that which we think should please ourselves or others, is the best service we can give ourselves. That and binge-watching “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”